Last weekend I got to be a part of a really cool collaboration between students from Whitefish High School a few local creative professionals called 44Mentors. Michael Voisin, a senior at WFHS made his directorial debut with his screenplay ‘Somber’, utilizing students and professionals for everything from key grip to production assistant. He got a taste of what it was like to manifest ideas from paper to screen. I got to partner with student Thomas … More

Hilary Matheson and Aaric Bryan from the Daily Interlake paid Whitefish High School a visit while the Physics, Music and Shop class came together to talk about what we’ve been up to the last few months…. It’s been a blast for me to hang with young people, addressing real world problems – and problems that affect them on a daily basis. When the music kids left their 50+ year old building and moved into their … More

There is something so rewarding about sitting back after the hours of setup, giving talented artists every possible sonic option, and listening to them feel their way through new instruments. There’s a certain kind of a rough-edge feel about it. And sometimes there is a beautiful delicacy about it. Sometimes wild uncontrollable things burst through the speakers and send everyone running for the back door… and sometimes, something, just works. My last session with Cory … More

Littered with found sounds, droning synths, gritty beats, and some straight up wacky stuff, there’s something special about new release ‘Snowghost Pieces‘. It was a dream come true for us, having listened to early Krautrock like Kraftwerk, Cluster, and Neu! for years – and this recording trio is comprised of Kraut-royalty. Dieter Moebius charted new “Krautronik” ground as one half of Cluster. The Americans Tim Story and Jon Leidecker are two electronic musicians who could … More

Coachella 2014 was as much of a social gathering, as it was an arts and music festival, this year. I have been to numerous Coachellas, starting with the first annual, Coachella ’99 – and I have always enjoyed just being a fan. I felt that this year’s Coachella definitely put people’s appetite for individualistic social media on display. Littered with eye-popping outfits and hard-bodies, drones and GoPros, and selfie shutterbugs – Coachella was dominated by … More

Flattered to be included in this month’s music issue of the Flathead Beacon put together by Tristan Scott and Greg Lindstrom. Really great talking shop with those guys. I’m sure they’ll be back for a listening session soon.

Real mechanical music has the ability to get people to camp out, around the fire, so to speak. Music is unique in that it stokes so many physical, mental, and emotional triggers. It’s impressive experiencing the human mastery of a mechanical instrument, emulating nature at it’s core. Most commonly via musicians performing live, there’s something about the mechanical experience of music that makes people stop and stare – and most importantly, listen. Today, I feel … More

We all have experiences in life that we never forget, flashes in time we keep with us the rest of our lives. This week marks one of those milestones for local pianist Tiana Crist… In today’s world of music, it can be difficult for our youth to get the support they need. At a very excited 10 years young, Tiana has that support system from her parents – thank you Sally and Chad for the … More

The other day my neighbor and I got into a discussion, and I found out that she was basically one of the biggest Beatles fans ever. She told me that she had all of their records, trading cards, ticket stubs from their last show at Candlestick Park, clothing, stickers, posters…. everything. And then she told me about her prized possession – a gold medallion with John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Mop tops and beatnik suits. … More

We had a great week with Whitefish’s favorite funk band, 20 Grand. It paid off gigging endlessly this summer, as they got their keeper takes from a live pass through all of the songs – that energy definitely comes across in the recording. We are in the process of mixing and mastering the project, and it is sounding great so far – They have started a 20 Grand Kickstarter page to generate some pre-sales and … More

Thanks again to the John Pizzarelli Quartet for visiting SnowGhost Music! A few of the best jazz musicians of our time, John and his brother Martin are two current snapshots from the past of their father Bucky Pizzarelli, a living legend within the jazz community. John and Bucky have also recorded their fair share of pop music, John playing on Paul McCartney’s last record Kisses On The Bottom, and Bucky on some of Phil Spector’s biggest … More

As I work in the studio, and watch the leaves change colors here in Montana, I realize that there are obvious parallels in music production and changing surroundings. I know that the art we produce is directly influenced by our surroundings – but I’ve never actually thought about the seasons affecting mixes. Montana is gearing up for that annual white winter blanket, and I wonder if my approach changes at all. Getting ready for those … More

Tracking, mixing, and mastering 5 new songs for The Luke O’Connell Band, a group from our very own Flathead Valley. They work fast and furious, often only needing a take or two of a song before calling it good. It’s pleasure to work with them, and we look forward to doing it again!

The key finds at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2013 were huge collections of vinyl and turntables, and computer-based playback systems. That’s it folks, CDs are officially a thing of the past. Here is Jeff at one of the many record shops – this one was crammed into a room on the 9th floor of the Marriott – if they always had a room like this I’d only stay at the Marriott! We also listened to … More

On our way to Denver to see all of our good friends at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2013. Gonna play some of our latest DSD recordings. There will be some serious geeking out, and we will love every minute of it!

Lately we’ve been finding that we are working much quicker using a combination of mics on a source, to paint a picture of an instrument in a specific mix – rather than EQing to get it to sit right. If we are very careful during setup to get the collective phase right, each mic adds something to the overall sound, rather than taking away from it. We don’t use all of the mics in this … More

Working with musician Andrew Leonard on how to define what we love about classical guitar, and how to properly record it. SnowGhost has developed a very special method using Telefunken C12s, Sanken CO-100ks, and LaChapell 992EGs to capture the purity of the image of the guitar, as well as how it interacts with the room – with great success. Andrew agrees that the classical guitar, and the room in which it is played, are not … More

One of our favorite performances from the vault. Kati O’Toole has been a long time collaborator with SnowGhost. Check back in for music from her and Brett soon, as they have been getting together weekly to write new music.

Thanks to music and digital media expert Dr. Mark Waldrep from AIX Records and iTrax for making it out to see us, and for the great write up on his findings. Mark is one of the good guys, working tirelessly to get the word out to young people about how to record and distribute hi-definition, multi-channel digital audio. After our late night bouncing around seedy clubs in the lower east side of Manhattan, during the … More

Getting ready for another late night vinyl session. Cued up, Wilco’s The Whole Love. One of the best sounding records we’ve heard in a while. Kudos to our friend Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering on a stand up mastering job!

A Beatles-heavy vinyl night, with father and son Brown. We are reveling in the sound of our newly updated VTL Siegfried Series II – Not sure how you improve on the originals, but they did it! So much faster and cleaner. Thanks to Luke and Bea for being wonderful people, with a wonderful taste in sound.

The best ears in the business. From left to right, Michal Jurewicz from Mytek, Mark Waldrep from AIX and iTrax, Bo Saxberg, Eric Eagle, Charlie Bolois from Vertigo Recording Services, Peter McGrath from Wilson Audio, Geoff Harper, Luke Manley from VTL, and Jeff Allen from SnowGhost.

Ted used to have vinyl, but he now admits that he rarely listened to the old LPs, EPs, and singles that he used to buy. “Well, for one thing, they look cool. Nothing ever looked cooler or will ever look cooler than vinyl,” says Ted, adjusting his hands so he can flip the record he’s holding in his hands. “But they sounded like ass compared to CDs. At least they did on my shitty Technics … More

We just time traveled. It’s guaranteed that History repeats itself, but in most cases with a new hair color. It is not all that common that History finds itself digging back into its closet to find an old turntable – I guess we never really bettered ourselves. SnowGhost just bought a turntable for the studio, to showcase the wonders of the analog consumer medium, juxtaposed against a digital wallpapered world. In fact, this debate is … More